The buttons are another big issue, good point.
Once you get dialed in with how the Garmins work with their buttons, it's insanely intuitive and fast to get things done -- much more so than a touchscreen, especially on a device this size.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Watch Ultra 3 Boasts Best Ever Battery Life
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
The buttons are another big issue, good point.
Once you get dialed in with how the Garmins work with their buttons, it's insanely intuitive and fast to get things done -- much more so than a touchscreen, especially on a device this size.
Heres the rub - Yes there are more analytics, however all of those analytics are being sourced of a HR sensor that is nowhere near as accurate as the AW and more analytics is not aways better (although Apple need to offer way more than what they are offering) so, and I've asked this question a lot
1 - Do you want accurate but sparse Analytics (taken every 15 mins with Afib detection on) or with additional third party software with a more stable OS
or
2 - **** tonne more battery and analytics but questionable accuracy of HR and software stability
My comments is based of this guy - https://www.youtube.com/@TheQuantifiedScientist - who is awesome
TLDR
AW - 98+ Percentile in Hr accuracy
Garmin Fenix - 85-95 Percentile in HR accuracy
based of a Garmin chest strap
This is all snake oil with inconsistent and incomplete methodology.
All of them .. even the ones hawking Garmins instead.
YouTube "reviews" are entertainment and little more.
I see he has plenty of the hot buzzwords in there ... just make sure to become a member and $upport the channel.
"Weekly brain MRI" -- lmfao
🙄
Granted - I do skip the Sleep tracking nonsense - but still think its some of the more in depth analysis on the exercise features
More "in depth" ≠ good science.
He's throwing that around as his shtick.
By all means, take it in ... but make sure to take in plenty of competing views also.
It’s about time…the US has been financing EU medication/prescription prices for decades😜
You're right ... Was there a type on the compare tool yesterday I wonder?
I could have sworn I saw a 2mm diff on there yesterday
You should actually educate yourself on Garmin offerings, they have smartwatches that offer the same functions and more all while having significantly better battery life.
That's funny. There is not one Garmin model that offers even nearly all of the same functions as an Apple watch.
Maybe educate yourself first.
What features are you referring to?
Cellular / phone replication I'm assuming?
What else?
Garmin has a plethora of options for every slice of life. The only difference really is it's less shiny/polished because its prioritizing practicality over aesthetics. Aesthetics + Apple's restrictions on third party devices is primarily what draws in iphone users to the apple watch.
Apple seeks to fully control what users see, while Garmin provides as much data as possible, more ways to view and analyze that data and with much higher frequency of measurements (i.e. continuous heart rate tracking.)
Objectively Garmin outperforms Apple watches in nearly everyway and I suspect if Apple allows third party watches full interoperability like the EU is pushing for, there's going to be a lot more iphone users considering Garmin.
Garmin is not just "an advance fitness tracker that happens to be smart" they have watches like that but they also have true smartwatches. There are features Garmin offers and have offered awhile now that apple watch doesn't even do or it does so in an inferior way.
I have no real dog in this discussion. But I just found it interesting that you made this statement, obviously with a product in mind, but didn’t mention the product you were thinking about.
The joke is on you friend, what functions does Apple watch offer that Garmin doesn't?
What do you mean 2mm thicker? Ultra 1, 2 and 3 are all identical in case size according to Apple's tech specs.
My understanding is LTE is scheduled to begin winding down in late 2028 and sunsetted by the end of 2030. Perhaps Apple is posturing for the future.
I've not had a Garmin for years, how many of these can they now do? Trying to think of what my old 935 couldn't do?
1. Ability to talk to the watch and set timers, quickly reply to messages, I use this all the time when cooking, wanting to do things at specific times etc.
2. The AF Burden weekly summary and 15 min HRV/Afib background monitoring has been very very handy to figure out that my AF was getting worse and worse.
3. I have the netatmo outside temp as a widget, which I use regularly during the day
4. I use the medications reminder twice a day from the watch
5. I use the Tesla app on the watch loads to open the boot as I am walking up to the car, unlock it and drive if I've forgotten to grab my phone.
6. Lastly the ability to ping the iPhone from the watch and track it down is used a lot more than I'd have expected
I do
So can any Garmin do any of that?The AW ultra 2 does everything I need inc all day hikes, running, workouts etc. The only time I "topped it up" battery wise was doing the Lyke Wake Walk, using it for navigation with the screen on.
Last edited:
